"They don't know where he is. I think Rome does but he wouldn't say anything, even to Bright." Wayo sat beside Godt and received the cup of hot milk the older male offered. "Undetermined leave. That's what Bright's husband said."
His mood plummeted to the ground even more at the news. Singto should have fucking locked him up before he could even think about running away from him.
"Forth's on his trail but he's also having a hard time. He said Krist might be randomly riding busses, trains and even cabs to an indefinite destination." Godt explained.
"He's running away from me."
"I don't think so." Wayo softly disagreed. "He's only getting a breather."
Singto chuckled at the irony. "Yeah. A breather from me."
The younger male shook his head. "I heard a couple of things about him. Unpleasant. . .things."
"What do you mean?" Godt questioned.
Wayo bit his lower lip, hesitating to speak about the uncannily hard life Singto's pet lived after the former left him. When Godt held his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, he sighed.
They owe Singto a lot.
"Are you guys familiar with Cinderella?" The older males shared a look before both nodded their heads. "His friends compared his life to hers but instead of having a happy ending with the prince, his struggles started after his 'prince' left. Tutah said that after Singto broke up with him, his elder brother borrowed a lot of money for his wife which Krist ended up paying. His mother remarried and his stepfather was not a good man so when his mom passed away, his life became harder. The little sister he was sending to school went through the rebellious phase an-"
"His mom died?" His guts twisted sickeningly. Krist loves his mom too much for him to even break up with him back then.
Wayo nodded his head. "Everything she left went to her husband who wasted it away. His sister's not that bothersome anymore but he's still sending her to school and Knot is helping him."
Knot. The 'First Love'.
A wave of unwanted jealousy washed over him.
"They talked about you and how happy Krist was when you were to together but it was only fleeting and they merely shared how they teased him."
"Does. . . is he and Knot together?"
Confused, the younger male asked back. "What do you mean? with the way he defended her to his friends, Knot and his younger sister seems to have something going on."
What?
"Krist's friends. . . They seem to have loose screws except for Rome."
Rome, Bright's husband.
That one's unfamiliar.
"They were very trusting. I think we should get a PI to procure their profiles for you to personally check. If you ask me, I'm sure they're good people."
"Everyone's good for you." Godt muttered.
"You sure he doesn't have anything unusual with that group?"
Wayo firmly nodded his head. "Krist hasn't moved on."
Yeah, right.
"Strawberry. For some reason, he doesn't like the fruit anymore. You said he likes drinking Nom Yen too but he didn't even spare a glance to the bottles I brought for him. His friends said his preference changed after your breakup but I think he stopped pining for strawberries to stop missing you."
The small smile on the younger male's lips ticked Singto. "There's nothing to be happy about. Maybe he never liked strawberries to begin with."
"Your lack of trust stresses me out, Sing. I suggest you give the pitiful guy a little leeway. He's gone through a lot and your sudden reappearance must have shaken him. Wayo already checked a couple of things for you, what's next?"
"Get him back, what else?"
Godt growled in exasperation while the youngest male among the three giggled.
"What?"
"You're treating Krist like he's an acquisition. Can't you be more romantic? This is not some enterprise you are taking over."
Singto raised a brow at Godt. "He's mine."
"Argh! I give up."
Wayo laughed.
What the fuck is wrong with this two?!
"What he's trying to tell you is that you need to tune down your aggressiveness a bit. You're scaring your pet away and I-"
"There's nothing for him to be scared of if he did nothing wrong."
Still with a placating smile, the smaller male continued. "You need to stop acting like he has done something wrong. Sing, you make it seem like Krist has already committed a mistake and you're punishing him for it. Don't force him. Okay?"
"No."
"At least give him a choice."
"I'm his only choice."
"You're making him afraid of you."
"Better. He'll willingly enter his cage and will obediently stay there."
"We can't even find him now. Please. You need to change the way you approach him."
"No." He refused. "I need to tie him down or someone else will."
"If this is an adaptation of 'Cinderella', this would not be a Romance genre but Horror. You're scaring the shit out of me with your responses, Sing." Godt acted like he was totally creeped out.
He threw a spoon at the taller male who laughed. "Fuck off!"
"You know what we said were all true. Listen to my baby and treat your wifey right. He'd go back to you on his own as long as you love him properly."
I did. You fucktard, I fucking did!
"Right."
A decision.
For almost two weeks, Krist spent his leave jumping from one place to another while making a decision.
"How is it?"
From the other line, Krist heard shuffling of papers. "All needed documents are ready. I got Bright's signature in terminating your contract as requested and-"
"Thank you, Rome." He sincerely expressed his gratitude to his friend. "Asking them to cut me from the group is unimaginable and I can only ask you to do this for me. I called them last night and they were fuming."
Rome chuckled. "I heard Bright curse all night long. If it weren't for his life savings, he would have dumped the company and Singto's investment for you."
He knows. Krist knew that his friends would drop everything for him. "Please keep an eye on them. I didn't tell them about my past to create a rift between them and Singto. Or Wayo. They are important investors. Well, Mr. Ruangroj is."
"I'll do my best. Where are you now?"
Looking outside his window, Krist could clearly see the roof of the house he and Singto shared for more than a month. "In my room. I'll be moving back to Knot's house in a week's time."
"Do you need help in-"
"You've helped enough, Rome. Thank you so much. I only need to speak with Mr. Ruangroj at some point and give him my answer. Then, going back to my hometown should be enough to put an end to this."
"Then, what? There's nothing in that little town to let you grow professionally. You need to return to the city."
Quietly, he agreed with his friend. His hometown is very small with only a handful of establishments and mostly lands for agriculture. "Maybe planting grains, corns and potatoes is my true calling." He forced himself to laugh it off.
"Kri-"
"I'm fine. Knot's house is still there and my sister will accompany me for a while before her university starts. I'll call. Promise."
"When he's gone, come back." Rome begged.
Keeping it light as much as he can, he affirmed. "I'll be back."
Singto won't stay long.
He doesn't stay long.
Krist dumbly stared back at the man he never expected to bump into.
"You're getting in?"
Cautiously, he nodded his head. As much as possible, he didn't want to see Singto's face. More so to have an alone time with him.
He was planning to give his answer through a phone call or an email.
Seems like fate has other plans.
Singto casually opened Starbucks' door and gestured for him to enter first which he did obediently with his heart beating bazillion times per second.
A warm hand wrapped itself around his elbow and guided him to the counter. "Pink drink or strawberries and cream?"
"Strawberries and cream." His mouth moved on its own before he can stop it.
"One Strawberries and cream, one Capuccino, both Grande, plain bagel, one slice s'mores cake and a to go slice of choco chip."
After giving his order and his card, Singto led him to an isolated table near the store's exit. The darker male didn't even give his name to the personnel as if it was expected for his drinks to be delivered by a staff.
The second his ass felt the chair's soft cushion, Krist felt himself pushed to a corner. There's no escape this time.
"You've been gone for more than 10 days. I believe that's enough time for you to think things through and come back to me."
Looking at the man in front of him, Krist can't help but sigh. He couldn't hate himself for falling for such physical perfection. For the past years, he had been dying to see this face again. So why is it that when his wish finally came true, he ran away instead of throwing himself into Singto's arms?
Was it pride? Fear? Pain?
Or the knowledge this would go nowhere as like before?
"Until when this time?" He barely felt the bite of his nails on his palm.
"What do you mean?"
"The game. You're getting married soon and Wayo seems to be a ni-" His words died down when a staff placed their orders on the table and returned Singto's card.
"Anything to add?"
"Nothing. Thank you." The staff smiled and left.
Smoothly, Singto placed the pastries in front of him along with his favorite cup. "The engagement is only for show. Wayo's father wants me to take care of him and he doesn't like Godt. While the two are working on it, I'm just giving the old man a peace of mind."
Krist watched Singto take a leisurely sip. "Why don't you play along?"
The question rendered him speechless.
Play along? Why couldn't he simply play along?
The fuck?!
"Are we going to play until you got bored, until you found a new one or until you found another stupid excuse to leave without a word?" The calmness in his voice almost made him applaud himself.
"Why not all? I'm sure you're more than enough to keep me occupied." Krist shuddered when Singto reached out and raised his chin for their eyes to meet.
"Do your best to keep me from getting bored."
It took everything in him not to slap Singto and pour his cup on him. Such scum!
"I'm not going to play with you." He calmly said. "Don't take it against Bright and the company. I've separated myse-"
"You tendered your resignation? Again?"
Not minding the frown on his ex's face, he nodded his confirmation. "I'm not going to bring any type of trouble to my friends. I owe them a lo-"
"Friends. You want me to believe they are your friends?"
"What else could they be?"
"You tell me!"
Eyes blazing, Singto looked like he was on the brink of losing his composure.
"I have nothing to tell you, Mr. Ruangroj. I don't need to explain myself to you. Whatever it is you think I have with my friends, that's up to you. I'm not wasting my time clearing up whatever misunderstanding you might have in that rarely used brain of yours!" Krist hissed.
"Talking to you is useless."
"I can say the same thing to you. Why don't we forget we know ea-"
"I want you, Kit. Needless to say, conversations are not compulsory."
Singto wants him. On his fucking bed. The other male made it so simple- as simple as there would be nothing more than him warming Singto's bed.
Pissed, Krist stood from his seat.
"Sit down. Don't waste the food in front of you, Kit. If you don't want to talk to me, that's fine. Just listen. And eat. We'll continue this on another day."
From the darker male in front of him, Krist's gaze fell on the slice of cake he hadn't tasted for years and the plain bagel. With a sigh, he sat back.
He shouldn't waste food.
That thought in mind, he stuffed his face with his sweets. His neurons were in shambles and he could not clearly think. He was mad.
How could Singto be so brazen enough to ask him to warm his bed?!
The sound of a dragged chair reached his ears. As he looked up to see what his ex was up to, a rough thumb brushed his lips.
"Messy eater."
Stupefied, he could only stare as Singto brought his thumb to his lips and lap at the frosting he 'cleaned up'. Thirsty, he blindly reached out for his drink and slurped until his mind had nothing in it but its sweetness.
"Tastes good?"
Krist nodded. "Yes."
When Singto reached out for his cup, he let it go right away. Direct contact would equal to instant kill!
After a sip, his ex placed the cup down. "I think you still taste best."
Eyes wide open, Krist could only scream in his head as Singto brought their lips together.
His friends should prepare their eulogy.
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